OMEGA has been a proud supporter of Orbis since 2011, when it became a Global Corporate Partner. Through avid support of our Flying Eye Hospital – the world’s only fully accredited ophthalmic teaching hospital on board an MD-10 plane – OMEGA has helped Orbis in our mission to mentor, train, and inspire local teams so they can save sight in their communities.

OMEGA makes long-term commitment to fight avoidable blindness
We’re thrilled to announce our renewed partnership with the Swiss watchmaker OMEGA, which will invest $2.5M into fighting avoidable blindness in communities around the world. The generous support will bolster our work to train eye care teams in areas with the greatest need so they can provide quality care in their communities.
Derek Hodkey
President and Chief Executive Officer of Orbis International
“Around the world, some 1 billion people live with vision loss that is entirely preventable or treatable, but they simply don’t have access to the care they need. Our work to create a world where no one loses their sight from avoidable causes is only possible because of generous supporters like OMEGA who believe in our mission, and we cannot overstate our gratitude for their longstanding partnership.”
OMEGA has been a proud supporter of Orbis since 2011, when it became a Global Corporate Partner. Through avid support of the Flying Eye Hospital – the world’s only fully accredited ophthalmic teaching hospital on board an MD-10 plane – OMEGA has helped Orbis in our mission to mentor, train, and inspire local teams so they can save sight in their communities.
Raynald Aeschlimann
President and CEO of OMEGA
“It’s an honor to extend our partnership with this life-changing organization. For more than a decade, OMEGA has been witnessing the incredible work of Orbis, who embrace our own values of innovation, pioneering spirit, and meaningful change. We look forward to continuing our support of this vital mission.”
OMEGA also works in cooperation with its brand ambassadors – including Daniel Craig, Cindy Crawford, and others – to increase awareness of avoidable blindness. As part of two insightful documentaries, Daniel Craig and Cindy Crawford visited sight-saving projects in Mongolia and Peru, witnessing firsthand the long term impact of our ophthalmic training projects OMEGA also provides cuddly teddy bears to all young patients undergoing treatment on the Flying Eye Hospital.
Most recently, OMEGA was the Title Sponsor of a first-of-its-kind training project held last week on board the Flying Eye Hospital in Doha, Qatar, for women in eye care from conflict-affected areas. Ophthalmologists and nurses from Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Palestine, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen took part in simulation training using cutting-edge technology available on the Flying Eye Hospital.
Simulation training ensures that each step normally taken when treating a patient can be safely practiced as many times as needed, growing confidence and skills that eye teams can take back to their communities. The project – which was the first in-person training conducted internationally on the Flying Eye Hospital since the start of the pandemic – was launched under the leadership of, and thanks to, Qatar Fund for Development and Qatar Charity. Additional partners assisting the project included Qatar Airways, Qatar Executive, and Hamad International Airport, which provided on-the-ground support.
Last year, OMEGA was the exclusive Title Sponsor of a virtual Flying Eye Hospital project that trained ophthalmic nurses across Mongolia on treatment for cataracts, the leading cause of blindness in the country, and globally, despite being treatable with an operation that can take as little as ten to fifteen minutes. In 2020, Orbis reimagined in-person Flying Eye Hospital trainings as virtual ones to ensure that eye care teams could still access critical training safely during the pandemic. With the plane now returning to in-person programming, the virtual model Orbis developed is being used in conjunction with in-person training, a concept known as "blended learning," to ensure that eye teams can maximize time with their mentors, continue their education after the plane leaves and more.
We'd like to say a huge thank you to OMEGA for their support over the years. They truly are helping change the way the world sees.
If you're interested in becoming a Corporate Partner and playing a leading role in the global fight against avoidable blindness, please contact [email protected].
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